


The Superman Fem Story Notes Meta Narrative Fic

by The_Blister_Pearl_Lady



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Smallville, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Female Clark Kent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-05 15:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15866514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Blister_Pearl_Lady/pseuds/The_Blister_Pearl_Lady
Summary: Based off of the gender-swap guide prompt. Lois and Chloe kindly help me in slowly building up a fem Clark Kent character over time. Very meta. Chapters updated as I view back over old material.This story is mostly for: People interested in the process of building up a fem Clark Kent character, or people who have always asked the question "Why bother with a fem story at all?"





	1. Introduction and First 3 Episodes

**The Superman Fem Story Notes Meta Narrative Fic**

**by The Blister Pearl Lady**

_“This is what you give me to work with?_

_Well, honey, I’ve seen worse._

_We’re going to turn this sow’s ear_

_Into a silk purse.”_

_\- Mulan_

-

Chapter One: Introduction and First 3 Episodes

“Okay, where the hell are we? Because I was just at work and I was just about to eat the lost donut in the donut box, and now I’m here, and I swear if this is some weird cosmic metaphysical superhero thing, somebody is about to get a can of whoop-ass because _I am not in the mood -“_

“Lois,” said Chloe, exasperated. “Relax. This isn’t a weird cosmic metaphysical superhero thing. At least, not… exactly. If you calm down and let the information come to you, it will.

“But basically? We’ve moved out of our canon world. We’re in somebody else’s fanfic. Somebody else’s _very meta_ fanfic.” Chloe glared a little up at the ceiling where she imagined the author to be.

“So… the donut was…?”

 _“That’s_ what you’re focused on right now?”

“Well, wouldn’t you want to know?! You’re saying I remember something that never actually happened?!” Lois yelped, raising her hands disbelievingly.

“Technically, none of this ever actually happened. Sadly, we’re fictional characters. Sadly -?” Chloe realized what had come out of her mouth, paused in confusion - and then glared at the ceiling again, hands on her hips. “I’m not just your mouthpiece, you know,” she told the ceiling she imagined to be the author.

“So the donut thing… just happened in a different fiction? The fanfiction?” Lois realized.

“Exactly. And I was just playing with my son, to be fair, and now we’re here,” said Chloe, arms crossed. “This all likely means that we are Chloe and Lois at the end of the Smallville series - since the Smallville series is the only one that features me prominently. And we have to be at the end, because you’re a reporter at work, and I only had a son in the epilogue.”

“So… where are we? And why are we here?” Lois said.

“You know… I keep mentioning a ceiling, but… Where _are_ we?” Chloe realized, bewildered.

“My point exactly,” said Lois immediately. “I’m… _just_ realizing I have knowledge of the entire Smallville series and all of its fanfic and pop culture offshoots, most of which I’m not supposed to remember… but I don’t even know what room I’m standing in.”

“Since this is meta, maybe we have to decide,” said Chloe. “Because now we get to the purpose of being here: we’re here to discuss fem fanfiction, most particularly surrounding one Clark Kent.” Chloe smirked.

“Ooh, I get to turn Smallville into a girl?! Maybe this is a weird thing to say, but that sounds like the best time I’ve had in a while!” said Lois, grinning mischievously. “Alright, so this is going to involve a lot of talking, right? I do all my best thinking at the Daily Planet.”

“The reporter environment. Me, too.” Chloe nodded. “Since we’re keeping on the theme of Smallville, what about the old Torch offices? For old times sake.”

The Torch offices appeared around them, computer desks, printer, Wall of Weird and all.

 _“Now_ I’m in the right environment,” said Chloe positively. “Let’s pull up chairs.”

They sat down across from each other.

“Since this is all a theoretical fanfic project, I don’t really have a problem with it,” Lois admitted. “But why were the two of us chosen as characters to sit around and talk about female Clark Kent fanfiction on the part of the author? What, what was the choice just done at random?”

“I doubt it. I can think of three big reasons to pick us,” said Chloe logically. “First, we were closest to Clark throughout his most important moments in the series. Second, as reporters, we’re two of the most relentlessly analytical yet friendly characters in the series. Third, we’re both women ourselves.”

“Fourth, the author could like us the most,” Lois pointed out.

“… True,” Chloe admitted. “So I’m getting the feeling that what we do from here is sit around and talk, building up the character from the ground up. This is a fem Clark character analysis, just in a conversation between the two of us.

“So first on the agenda is -“

Clark Kent suddenly appeared in front of them. 

“Hi, Smallville!” said Lois cheerfully.

“Lois, Chloe, what is -?” Clark began in a panic.

And then in a pop, just like that, he disappeared.

“Bye, Smallville!” said Lois cheerfully. “For now, anyway,” she amended. “Damn, poor kid. I’m glad this is a fanfiction, I almost feel bad for him.”

“Oh, he’ll live through the experience,” Chloe scoffed. “For reasons we’re about to explain.”

“So… quick but important question,” said Lois. “Where _is_ he?”

Clark was simply gone.

 _“She_ doesn’t exist yet.” Chloe smirked. “We have to create her.

“The author plans for this to be a series. As she rewatches all the necessary material, she does several chapters of female Clark Kent character building. Each chapter involving discussions between us, to help her make sense of her growing character. She’s only posting the story for those who are interested in either the character or the process.

“One more quick rule: she is only covering the things that would change either before or at the beginning of where her female Clark Kent story would start. In other words -“

“She’s character and world building,” said Lois, catching on.

“Exactly.”

-

“We start with the basics,” said Chloe. “What is a gender swap and why write one?”

“I can think of one big argument: DC has actually done this before,” said Lois. “In one particularly weird side plot, there is actually a DC universe in which Bruce Wayne is a woman, Clark Kent is still a man, and they’re married in feudal Japan. I mean, comics have done weirder things, but I’m not actually kidding.”

“That’s a good point. In both mythology and comic book lore, gender swaps are not actually that uncommon,” said Chloe. “Even other kinds of fictional rewrites on TV and in books and movies often include gender swaps. But what exactly is a gender swap?

“A gender swap is different from a gender bender. In a gender bender, an already established male character suddenly becomes female, whether it’s through magic or a potion or science fiction or just plain old made up rules of power within the series. In other words, if we were writing a gender bender, Clark Kent as full Superman already would suddenly be turned into a woman within an already established storyline.

“And that is definitely not what this is.”

“Quick gender bender aside,” said Lois. “You would think a gender bender would lead to at least initial body dysphoria and some serious gender identity and sexuality issues. But it turns out no! According to most fanfic authors, such things are either nonexistent or easily overcome!”

“I think what most fanfic authors assume is that if a character is turned into a girl, of course it would be a straight and cisgender girl. And you’re right, if their body is the only thing that changes, that’s not entirely realistic,” Chloe acknowledged. “In fact, one critique of gender switches in fanfiction at all is that they tend to be somewhat sexist and homophobic, even though most of them aren’t consciously trying to be written that way.

“Which brings us to: What is a gender swap and what are the author’s intentions in writing one?

“A gender swap takes us all the way back to the beginning of the tale: The character is born the opposite gender. In most cases, the main male action character with complex male relationships is born a woman instead. It is interesting that this is the most common type of gender swap, but we’ll get to that.”

“Gender swaps are therefore difficult in a whole different way from a gender bender,” said Lois, her eyes lighting up with an idea. “There doesn’t necessarily have to be any sense of body dysphoria unless the author chooses to write the character that way… 

“But the author has to essentially create a new character, from an already established personality. She has to know that character inside and out, because from the very second a girl is born instead of a boy, things start changing.”

“Exactly,” said Chloe. “And the author has to have an in depth knowledge of everything that changed and what this character would exactly look like. What about the original character was gendered by society? What would change in this new one?

“As you will learn: a surprising amount.

“So there’s the first reason this author is choosing to write a gender bender: She wants to explore the possibilities. See just how much would be different in this new character with a simple gender swap.”

“But I like the second reason,” said Lois, grinning. “Feminist fantasy. The author wants to see a cool girl with the powers and background and relationships of Superman kick serious ass and become a big-time superhero. I mean, who wouldn’t be interested in seeing _that?”_

“And finally, reason number three: relationships,” said Chloe. “And not just the romantic kind. I mean, we can speculate about homosexual subtext very intelligently - and the author would like it known that she does love slash stories, and she’s not writing this story simply to make her favorite pairings heterosexual - but it is hard to deny that sexual overtones would be a lot more immediately obvious for societal reasons in a girl-boy interaction than it would be in a same-sex interaction.

“But like I said, there’s more to it than that. Relationships aren’t just romantic. What would this Clark’s friendships look like? How would she interact with the women in her life differently? With the men? What would her parent and family structure look like?”

“Which leads us to: Why are gender swaps most common in this kind of storyline?” Lois asked. “Because it’s true: gender swaps are most common in action-based fantasy, sci fi, manga, and comic stories. And they almost always gender swap a main male action hero with complex male relationships.

“Why?”

“I see two parts to this answer,” said Chloe. “Authors from society in general seem to feel there is a main dearth of two things: Strong female action heroes who are allowed to be their own complex, flawed, and independent people. And…”

“Complex male-female relationships,” said Lois, nodding. “I think we’re picking up on a private theory of the author’s here. And it is that, while slash is awesome, part of the reason it’s so overwhelmingly everywhere is because authors want complex relationships in their romantic interests - and they’re not getting enough of that from the male-female angle. Same-sex relationships of both kinds, but especially from men, are almost always portrayed as more complex and interesting.

_“And that’s what a lot of readers and writers are looking for.”_

“But there’s more to it than that again,” said Chloe, nodding. “Gender swaps exist partly, even on an unconscious level, because readers wish they could look at that level of complexity and get it from a fictional male-female relationship. Most authors just don’t know how to articulate that properly. And they don’t get it, because female characters are often two-dimensional and male-female relationships are often too strictly gendered to be interesting.

“So writers take to fanfic, and they do gender swaps.”

“There is evidence to support this theory, to be fair,” said Chloe. “Gender swaps tend to be most prevalent either in heavily gendered stories, or in stories with lots of complex and interesting male-male relationships. And it’s not uncommon to hear fans of a slash pairing make the argument: If this were a straight pairing, literally everyone would be rooting for this pairing.”

“And this is not just the author talking but also me: There is _so much of society_ behind that argument,” said Lois fervently.

“Okay, so we’ve spent seven and a half pages and over two thousand words, single spaced, setting out the lay of the land,” said Chloe. “Which is necessary but a little bit ridiculous. We have to get to poor Clark. We can’t just leave him hovering there in some weird state of nonexistence.”

Lois grinned mischievously and opened her mouth.

 _“No,_ Lois,” said Chloe sternly. Then, grinning reluctantly: “You are having far too much fun with this considering he’s your fiancé.”

“Oh, come on. It’s just theoretical and it’s just a fanfiction. Besides, I love torturing poor Smallville just a little bit. Think of how horrified he’d be,” said Lois cheerfully.

“Clark did grow up in a very heavily gendered part of our world,” said Chloe. “The trick will be to remain true to that and still keep things as complex as planned - to write a complex character in a heavily gendered world. A farm in a small country town in rural Kansas, the kind that worships high school football? His parents also practically radiate gender roles in most versions of themselves, but especially in Smallville. That doesn’t make Martha Kent a bad character - a character doesn’t have to be non-gendered to be a worthwhile character. But it is true. None of us can escape the gender of the society we grew up in, the Kents probably most of all. And that will I think actually end up affecting a lot of things about Clark’s still-authentic female self.

“So. In this first chapter, the author is just setting out everything starting out, from chosen fandoms to all the beginning changes she can think of concerning everything she already knows about Clark Kent. She then rewatched the first three introductory episodes of the series Smallville. So this is just covering a kind of beginning section. Subsequent character-building chapters will come up as the author continues viewing material.”

“Right, right, right. So let’s get started,” said Lois dismissively. “We have our basic idea: a gender swap from the beginning of the DC Superman story, and a female Clark Kent. A Clark Kent who was alway female, right from the beginning of the story.

“The chosen Superman fandom seems pretty simple. The series Smallville goes most into Superman’s background, digging deep into the story of how Clark Kent became Superman over a whopping ten seasons. So if we want to build a female Clark Kent from the ground up, it’s a great place to go. This is why we ourselves are from the Smallville universe.”

“There was only one other televised DC fandom around this time, Nolan’s Batman series, and there will be an eventual crossover,” added Chloe matter of factly. “The author is going by a release date timeline, and therefore will start including Nolan’s movies after Smallville’s season four.”

“So first we choose the basics: an appearance and a name. Then an unfinished female Clark Kent, kind of like a mannequin in a department store window, will appear before us where the male Clark Kent used to be,” said Chloe matter of factly. “It is important that from the beginning this character be her own person, with her own appearance and her own name.”

“For a name, the author tried to look for something that was like the name Clark,” said Lois. “Country and southern and down to earth, yet a bit preppy and gender neutral and unique. She chose the name Shiloh.”

“There is the minor snag of Martha giving a male Clark her maiden name because she was caught in a lie when he was very young,” said Chloe. “But it would be easy enough to claim Martha just thought Clark was a boy’s name and instead on the spur of the moment reached for the name of a close female friend from her childhood in Metropolis.

“Now, for appearance, the author turned to google images. She literally searched for a beautiful girl with black hair and blue eyes, because of course part of Clark’s character is that he’s supposed to be -“

“Stunning-looking and super-powered? Uh, yeah,” said Lois, blushing. “The whole point of most Superman stories is an attempt to portray the character as flawed anyway. That will be the challenge here.”

“So for her female Clark Kent, the author is including a link to two images,” Chloe said.

http://life-of-grimrose.tumblr.com/post/177632704132/female-clark-kent

“We can get a few things from this,” said Chloe matter of factly. “First -“

“A cosmetics style?!” Lois interjected before Chloe could stop her. “White face, red lips, smokey black eyes, and big hair tied back behind her head. As much as so many gender swaps are simply boys with a few traits changed, it would be much more realistic for a female character to have her own cosmetics style,” she finished smugly, as Chloe had been glaring at her.

Chloe sighed. “That is actually a good point,” she admitted. “Our Shiloh, according to those images, therefore also has a heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, almond shaped blue eyes, and long curls of black hair. She seems to be a smaller and slimmer sort of person.”

“On the note of cosmetics, she also has not just a particular hairstyle, but a particular haircut,” Lois added. “Most of her hair is long, but she rocks medium-length side pieces and then side-swept front bangs. Take away the ‘big hair tied back behind her head’ and the curls, and her haircut is almost 1960’s.”

Lois jumped as a little mannequin of Shiloh Kent suddenly appeared before them, smiling emptily. Lois slowly stood up - waved her hand in front of a vacant Shiloh’s face -

“Relax, Lois,” said Chloe. “We haven’t given her any sort of personality, background, fashion style, or relationships yet. She’s not really a person.”

“Creepy,” said Lois, sitting slowly back down.

“We will fill her in over the coming chapters,” said Chloe briskly. “Now we get to the inevitable question -“

“Of pairings,” Lois finished, deadpan.

“Not even because it’s the main point of the story, but because aside from the fem story tag, this is the most important set of tags to warn the readers about before they get any farther,” said Chloe. “Some people have NOTPs - the opposite of a One True Pairing, a NOTP is a pairing someone refuses to read in a fanfic. So it’s considered a general courtesy -“

“To warn about coming pairings first,” Lois finished, nodding. “Okay. I say we table both Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne till the end.”

“Agreed. They’re a little bit fraught,” said Chloe, nodding. “On the same level, we table who her ‘Lois’ is until we’ve finished talking about pairings.

“To explain, the easiest way to look at pairings for Shiloh in the series - so that everyone doesn’t end up falling in love with her, and she doesn’t come across as the dreaded Mary Sue - is to look at how many canon relationship interests Clark had. Then to give our Shiloh that many corresponding relationships in our story.”

“You should know upfront,” said Lois to the reader. “Since Clark only had official pairings with female characters, Shiloh will only have official pairings with male characters.”

“Which means first we have to find out who her Early Lana is,” said Chloe. “It was the author’s idea to separate Early Lana and Later Lana - to keep one single pairing that doesn’t end up together from getting too obnoxious.

“So who is her Early Lana… and who is her Alicia?”

“Well… the most obvious first answer would be Whitney…” Both Chloe and Lois made a face. “Ew,” Lois continued. “Gross. Okay, no. Who are the most obviously likable dudes in Smallville’s earliest seasons? Let’s do it that way.”

“Well… for someone a little unpopular and alternative like we’re assuming this character will be… There are two big ones I can think of,” said Chloe. “Justin Gaines, the artist who lost his hands, and Byron Moore, the shut-away poet. Justin would be first, Byron second. That would take only a single crush away from me, and only a single crush away from Lana.

“Which is realistic, reasonable, and doable,” Chloe concluded. “We could change canon so that they become her first two regular boyfriends. Assuming she saves both of them from impending doom, they still wouldn’t exactly be healthy relationships -“

“But she would be a dumb teenager,” said Lois bluntly. “And it’s easy to see a girl like we imagine Shiloh to be finding Justin’s injured hands and ability to make things float when he kisses her, or Byron’s poetry and depression, to be super romantic.”

“We’ll assume that no boys in early canon have a crush on her besides those two,” Chloe added. “Keeps her realistic and human.

“After that it becomes easier. The most obvious foil for Kyla is Jeremiah Holdsclaw, the angry Kawatche boy.”

“Everyone's gotta date an asshole at some point,” said Lois.

Chloe nodded. “The most obvious replacement for me is Oliver Queen,” she said realistically. “And we would be very much in remiss if we didn’t explore a dynamic between Shiloh and Davis Bloome. Davis could be her Later Lana. Oliver and Davis already had complex relationships both with Clark and with women. It would be fascinating to see the two combined in either dynamic. Shiloh challenging Oliver’s relationship with women, or Davis trying to play Beauty and the Beast with Jor-El’s daughter dead-set against him.

“It’s also easy to see both why either pairing would begin, and why it wouldn’t end up working out in the end.

“Now the question becomes… do we want Oliver to be the Lois?”

“It would feel… easy,” said Lois slowly. “And that makes me uncomfortable. Clark and I are great friends, too, but it always felt to me like he deserved some big passion and romance.”

“Which brings us inevitably…” said Chloe uneasily.

“To the two big characters we haven’t talked about yet,” Lois finished.

“There’s a lot of potential there in both areas. Bruce and Shiloh have the potential for an unparalleled level of understanding that neither of them would get from anywhere else. A capability for support, but enough difference and independence there to make it work and make it passionate. But as Lex’s best friend and also a woman, Shiloh might have the potential to save Lex where Clark didn’t. And if the complicated attachment and support would still be there, as we’re trying for…

“I mean, both of those are incredibly romantic and important concepts,” Chloe finished. “Both feel natural. Bruce Wayne would only come in after Shiloh graduated high school. Lex would get more time with her, but I think he needs that in order to be truly redeemed by her friendship, and come to fully trust her - and Lionel could take over as the big villain, especially if a redeemed Lex decides not to kill his father.”

“It helps that we can imagine either pairing as both super passionate and super hot,” Lois finished, pointing.

“Yeah, that helps with the readers,” said Chloe dryly. “It feels like we have to pick one… And it also feels like picking one and throwing away the other would be arbitrary.”

“We’re missing something big here,” said Lois. “Hear me out. I’m interested by how the three would interact with _each other_ as a dynamic… What if we made both pairings valid? Think about it!” she said when Chloe seemed skeptical. “Kryptonians are this super logic-heavy culture, right? They’re not incredibly emotional people. They are a reason and science heavy warrior people, very stoical, from an ice planet with a red sun.

“It is actually easier to imagine that kind of society allowing for kind of weird marriages - and even advanced childbirth using Kryptonian technology. The emotion isn’t there for them. For them, it’s just about what works.

“So what if she just had…?”

“A Kryptonian three-way marriage, and children the Kryptonian technological way,” said Chloe, cottoning on. “But… canon Clark is super traditional.”

“Yeah, but just by sociology statistics, women are _way_ less likely to be neo-traditionalists than men. And it actually doesn’t matter where they come from,” Lois pointed out.

“And that could be our Lois,” Chloe finished. “Okay… I’m interested. Let’s try it and see if the author can write it well.

“On that note, are we going to include both people as there from the very beginning when Shiloh arrives on Earth?”

“That part’s simple,” said Lois, sitting back in satisfaction. “In the comics, a Wayne Enterprises satellite let Clark’s ship pass to Earth. In Smallville itself, Lex’s life is changed forever by the initial meteor shower, because he was there as a kid when it happened. Then later in Smallville…”

“Clark and Lex had that interaction while Lex was sick in the Kent truck,” said Chloe curiously. “Yeah, exactly. But what about…?”

“Bruce?” Lois grinned. “Back to the comics. In one universe, Bruce Wayne as a child who has lost his parents actually visits Smallville at one time. Clark wants to offer to let Bruce play with his friends, but they’re put off by Bruce’s demeanor and it doesn’t end up happening.

“So what if we do that slightly differently? Bruce Wayne arrives as a Wayne Enterprises charity visit to the place where the horrible meteor shower happened…”

“And Shiloh as a young, alone toddler girl actually does try to get him to play with her!” Chloe realized. Then she grinned. “Oh, yeah. Cute enough that we’re keeping it.

“So now we move into Shiloh’s other beginning relationships,” added Chloe. “As we said, relationships are not just romantic.

“Would she be childhood friends with Lana?”

“Not likely, with the meteor rock necklace,” said Lois skeptically. “That might even make Shiloh feel like Lana makes her nervous for a whole different, inferior reason - and it might push Shiloh in the direction of being a childhood tomboy and having her friends as boys.”

“So her childhood best friends are still Pete and Greg, and Greg still drifts away,” Chloe clarified.

“Yeah. All of a girl’s friendship problems are not just magically solved because she’s ‘better at communication’,” said Lois, with heavy air quotes around the word. “But I like this idea: What if Greg sees his childhood female best friend as the butterfly - before eventually switching that to his teenage crush, Lana?

“We saw the picture of Shiloh with the wrist tattoo, and we know Greg, Pete, and Clark used to hang out near the old meteor rock foundry as kids. What if Greg used a meteor rock to carve a butterfly into Shiloh’s wrist, when they’re dumb little kids? It’d make her sick for days -“

“But it would stick,” Chloe realized. “And it would make her not only more human looking, but it would add an extra quirk to her appearance.

“So, we’re thinking: Lana as a crush switches to Lana as a very distance source of envy.

“I mean, it make sense! Lana is wealthy and can afford expensive ‘show’ horseback riding, Lana is a popular cheerleader, Lana makes Shiloh feel sick which she attributes to feelings of inferiority and nervousness. Lana and Shiloh would at some point have to figure out together that Shiloh has a simple allergy to meteor rock -“

“Which, by the way, why was that never a plot point with Clark?” said Lois in confusion.

“But not until at least the beginning of the series,” Chloe added, nodding. “I could be a best friend but also a secret source of envy. Just as Pete likes me, Shiloh likes Justin - and Justin still likes me! Plot complication, his crush on me isn’t gone!”

“Which is much more palatable overall,” said Lois, “than Shiloh wanting to be a cheerleader and crushing on Whitney. Though we’ll have to make up a plot complication to make up for the football thing.”

“But this really is very realistic. Envy between women, with each woman fulfilling a different aspect of the supposed ‘perfect woman,’ is a very natural part of the girl experience. It’s one of the reasons supposed ‘girl-drama’ exists,” said Chloe. “Now, Pete could be Shiloh’s best guy friend. I totally see him as the guy friend she can complain to about love life problems, get support and advice from, that kind of a thing.

“The actual crush part of Lana is of course Justin. We could include him from the beginning and just make up that his car accident happened in the interim shortly before his episode.

“The most obvious foil for the bully part of Whitney is season one’s Felice Chandler. She seems to bully most girls, me included, and she fits all the stereotypes: drama club, cheerleader, lots of pink, bratty,” Chloe pointed out logically.

“As a cheerleader, she could be friends with Lana and could even overhear the meteor rock necklace conversation. Plot complication,” said Lois, growing to this idea.

“A focus on the father - both human and alien - could turn into a focus on both parents -“ Chloe began.

 _“Both human and alien,”_ Lois realized eagerly.

“Exactly.” Chloe smiled. “What if Lara’s brain went along with Jor’s in the ship? I mean, there are practical reasons. Who else is going to decide when to teach Shiloh about sex with a human as a female Kryptonian? Who else is going to decide _when_ those lessons should happen? And who else is going to help her through them?

“And I can definitely see a female like Shiloh having more of a complicated relationship with Martha, kind of like Clark had with Jonathan. At the same time, I can’t see either Jor or Jonathan going away willingly. So… both parents.”

“I have one final question for now,” said Lois. “As far as relationships go. When Shiloh pulls Lex out of that river… how is he going to react differently to it being a beautiful if very young woman who saved his life?

“Do you see what I mean? The dynamic would work differently.”

“Luckily, we already have that answer,” said Chloe, smiling slyly. “Kara saved Lex at one point from a similar fate. He thought she was an angel. That was even what he called her. And there’s nothing directly sexual about that, so I can see him getting away with calling his younger female friend his guardian angel.

“Remember, the relationship part doesn’t happen until several years later. Like with Lex and Lana.”

-

“So now we finally get into this question,” Chloe finished with, “what does Shiloh as a different, female character look like? In other words, what about Clark Kent is gendered?”

“Looked at differently,” said Lois, “what do we know about him personally as a character? 

“Some things to start off with:

“Clark takes on his glasses later on in life. Clark’s emphasis is on his physical powers. Clark is aware of his adopted status but doesn’t know where he’s going - he has no idea what he wants to do with the rest of his life.”

“Clark wants to play football but can’t,” Chloe added. “He loves philosophy. He’s a total car and motor power boy. He loves astronomy. He seems to listen mostly to alt and hard rock. He’s a Radiohead cult follower. He’s a skater boy, a nerd with comics, and he loves math and science. He’s got that conventional rustic boy look. We even know that -“ Chloe blushed. “Well, that his mouth tastes like mint,” she muttered.

“Hell yeah!” Lois grinned. “He often wears old family suits to formal places. He still goes fishing with his Dad but he hates the trip every year. He does lots of sports, motorcycle, and outer heavy labor farm work with his Dad.”

“He writes a bit unenthusiastically for the school paper with me,” Chloe finished. “He dreams of big city sports games but he can’t afford them. He’s a small town boy neo-traditionalist, and a bit of a nerd.

“Do you see how much of this would be different in the same highly gendered Kent world? Even if we went close to the guidelines. And that’s just what the author remembers and what she gleamed from the first three introductory episode rewatches!

“So how do we take these highly gendered things and… feminize them, while remaining true to the same basic character?”

“We could say,” said Lois slowly, “that among other things it was a more protective Computer Lara’s idea to gift Shiloh with rectangular black-framed glasses when she first arrived on Earth. She still doesn’t know at the beginning that she’s an alien or that she was found with them and the ship…”

“But it would change things,” said Chloe, “because according to the comics, these glasses are made from a special hypnotic Kryptonian metal that makes the wearer seem harmless. That’s why Clark Kent’s disguise is a simple pair of glasses.

“So her being able to take those on and off at will… would affect her very early on.”

“More,” said Lois enthusiastically. “Instead of an emphasis on her physical powers, she could have more of an emphasis on her intellectual powers -“

“On stellar grades and a big future ahead of her,” said Chloe, nodding approvingly. “We would have to make her a bit of a nerd snob, to make up for a major boost in character perfection.

“But what would that ambitious future look like to Shiloh?”

“Hear me out: Remember Clark’s blind date late in the series? How that character was hinted as so much like him?

“Well she thinks she’s adopted herself. She has brains and ambitions but, like Clark, she hates corporate structure. What if she wants to become a social worker and therapist? That way, she can keep track of what’s going on in the world of troubled people around her as well! She would just be a different kind of investigator - which is fine, because I’m not her romantic interest!

“And the girl from the blind date… was interested in the more scientific and qualitative research aspects of social working,” Lois finished triumphantly.

“I like that. So a definite character is forming now,” said Chloe, chancing a glance at the more detailed mannequin beside them. “The rest of it should be fairly simple. She could still like contact sports, but football is blocked off to women. So -“

“Kickboxing,” said Lois, her eyes gleaming. “She wants to become an amazing kick boxer, small but spry and vicious - and she could kill someone if she lost control!”

“Philosophy?” Chloe asked next. “It’s intellectual and often dark, but for some reason it’s always been a very masculine pursuit.”

“Poetry, sci fi, and horror,” said Lois smoothly, smirking. “Also dark and intellectual, but there have been tons of female poets - and sci fi horror was literally started by a woman. Mary Shelley invented the genre as a teenager, lost her virginity on her mother’s grave, and kept her late husband’s calcified heart in her desk.

“Tell me anything that can beat that.”

“True enough,” said Chloe in amusement. “Car boys are horse girls. Don’t even bother trying to argue that one. This could lend more depth to her envy of Lana’s show horseback riding - if her family couldn’t afford expensive show horses, lessons, and competitions. It fits with her country background, too.

“Astronomy?”

“Could turn to stargazing out in fields with hot cocoa, meteor shower watching, and space photography - with an old camera from her Mom’s college years,” Lois finished.

“Alt and hard rock?”

“Dream pop, art rock, and punk rock - much more female friendly.”

“Radiohead cult following?”

“Turns into a Tim Burton and Rocky Horror Picture Show set of cult followings.”

“Skater boy?”

“Electric guitar girl.”

“Math and science boy?”

At this, Lois finally looked stumped.

“I have an idea - what if she joined Girls Who Can Code?” said Chloe enthusiastically. “She could code feminist apps and design feminist video games!”

“My turn, then,” said Lois. “Comics boy?”

“Harry Potter and manga girl.”

“The conventional rustic boy look?”

“The hipster long-haired girl look - with the bedroom and loft decorations to match.”

“Mint toothpaste? I live curveballs,” said Lois, smirking.

“Well…” said Chloe slowly. “We’ve already decided cosmetics, tattoo, accessories, fashion… what about scents? She could wear a kind of spearmint perfume - with undertones of honeyed flowers and cinnamon. It suits her.”

“Old family suits?”

“Vintage dresses.”

“Hates fishing with his Dad?”

“Hates scrapbooking and Church visits with her Mom.”

“Sports, motorcycle, and outer labor farm chores with Dad?”

“Cooking, baking, and gardening and organic, free range stuff with her Mom.”

“Does the school paper with you but is unenthusiastic?”

At this, it was Chloe’s turn to look stumped.

“I have an idea. Comics Clark became a blogger - what if our Shiloh is a blogger? She’s passionate about writing her own ideas in private instead, since she isn’t even planning on being a reporter!” said Lois enthusiastically. “So she could have nights with Chinese takeout and espresso, you know big time city stuff, and she and you could talk politics together!”

“Like me and Lana… she actually dreams of the big city,” said Chloe slowly, smiling. “She is super opinionated to make up for her increase in interest. And just as Clark is a small town boy neo-traditionalist… Shiloh could be a small town feminist girl who dreams of more.

“Oh, and I have one more thing. The nerd part? Smallville makes two very direct popular-unpopular comparisons. For the boys, it’s nerd turns into small town football star. For girls…. it’s waitress turns into cheerleader. So if Clark is a nerd at the bottom of the totem pole…”

“This girl would be a waitress, in Smallville terms,” Lois realized curiously.

“Kara was even a waitress at one point when she first got here,” Chloe pointed out. “She worked and poured coffees at a diner -“

“Which still involves coffee, but is more warm and homey Shiloh Kent, and doesn’t take away from Lana’s very Lana-like barista occupation,” Lois finished. “It also gives Shiloh more convenient plot time to talk to any customers.

“Hey, I like the idea of it being a retro 1950’s diner. Thoughts?”

“Accepted,” said Chloe. “So she’s a waitress at a Smallville retro 1950’s diner - her waitress status could even be downgraded the same way his nerd status is. In other words, she could suffer abuse as a waitress the way he sometimes does as a nerd.

“And that takes us to all of the author’s memories and through episode three.”

“That caps us off at twenty-four pages single-spaced and over six thousand words,” said Lois cheerfully to the audience. “Stay tuned for our next character building chapter as the author wades her way further into the Smallville series!”


	2. Through Episode 7

Chapter Two: Through Episode 7

“Really? It hasn’t been that long,” said Lois curiously, staring up at the title above her head.

“But! The author is updating because two important things have happened!” Chloe was grinning. “First, she’s answered all the big basic questions she had at the beginning of the series. Everything after this is just natural character addition. _And -“_

“It happened. The character started speaking to her,” Lois realized, grinning. “That means our mannequin will actually get a voice!

“I’m glad, too. This staring, empty figure was getting creepy.”

Lois shuddered.

“Okay, so first we have to consider two things: Clark Kent seems to be a bit of a skeptic in the Smallville series. He may have hunches about people that he follows, but when it comes to actual belief systems like astrology or religion, he seems like a very skeptical teenager,” said Chloe.

“Our final piece of the puzzle,” Lois added, “is that Clark is a lot like his Dad.

“So hear us out,” she added, raising her hands. “If Shiloh were a skeptic when it came to belief systems, this might clash a lot with her more religious and faith based Mom -“

“Arguably, women are expected to be more faith based than men are,” said Chloe, nodding. “And Martha might take a sense of atheism more personally in a daughter than she would in a son. At the same time -“

“It’s easy to see Shiloh’s point of view,” Lois finished. “Not only does she save people and interact with the troubled, but she’s always had a natural focus on those things as someone who wants to be a social worker.”

“Not to mention,” said Chloe, “above all, she’s a Kryptonian. For all these reasons, believing in a God who seems to value some people over others makes no sense.

“And the author can guarantee it is her _character_ telling her this, by the way, because not to get too personal, but the author actually _does_ believe in God.

“But the author was excited by this, not only because Shiloh told her this herself, but because it was the first time she could realistically see a huge plot-related crash between Martha and Shiloh that actually fit both characters.”

“At the same time,” Lois added, “Shiloh would probably be more like her mother. More intelligent, compassionate, a bit quiet, and idealistic. So they would clash -“

“Because of their idealism. Both are admirable, which makes it hard,” said Chloe. “Martha chooses to have an optimistic belief in faith and mystery, while Shiloh can’t help but see all the people God seems to be leaving out of his great plan. It’s hard to root for one side over the other.

“But there’s more in the comparison between Shiloh and Martha. A very direct comparison seemed to be made in the Smallville show at one point between Jonathan’s motorcycle, and Martha’s books, fashion, and ideals. If we take Clark’s secret Red Kryptonite love for the dark leather jacket rebel look….”

“And turn it into Shiloh’s secret love for the revealing dark punk girl look, the kind of look Clark so much admired from the new girl in the first Red Kryptonite episode…” Lois finished, “then a definite character starts to emerge. 

“Shiloh secretly wishes for and admires the revealing dark punk girl look, but the high fashion kind. And she loves books. This isn’t an incredibly expensive hobby, but in another case of Shiloh telling her things herself -“

“I have a secret love for first edition historical texts,” said Shiloh bluntly, hands on her hips, glasses on and hipster fashion in place, dark hair tied back behind her head in a big wave.

Lois jumped horribly.

“… _Geez_ this is harder on my nerves than I thought it would be,” she forced out at last.

Chloe looked over curiously at Shiloh. “Care to explain the next part yourself?”

“Sure,” said Shiloh, pulling up a seat. “See, the author has noticed this weird anomaly in fiction. Nerdy magic user guys are almost always paired off with girls who love sarcastic people watching. And since Clark is into magic tricks, it felt natural for her, especially with me, to switch from one to the other.”

She sat back casually.

“She decided I needed a flower, like my Mom has - you know, the _red tulips_ thing - and she chose a purple iris. Lex picked one when he went to meet Cassandra Carver and I decided I liked it.”

Shiloh shrugged casually, looking from Chloe to Lois.

“Okay, it’s actually going to be nice having you as a character to talk to during all this,” said Lois. “I can’t wait to make up more fun stuff about you. Nice to meet you, I’m Lois Lane.”

She stuck out her hand.

“Chloe Sullivan,” said Chloe cheerfully, and Shiloh smiled wryly and went from shaking one hand to shaking the other.

“Shiloh Kent,” said Shiloh, smirking. “So let’s get started.”

-

“We haven’t covered the biggest piece,” said Chloe, “the real reason the author felt those final pieces and decided to tie it all together.

“She actually heard me tell season one Clark that he tends to choose odd birthday gifts. She took that quirk and turned it into a huge thing. She decided Shiloh really likes odd, unique and alternative birthday ideas -“

“And is super into adventure and trying new things,” said Lois, nodding and grinning. “I actually loved this part. Care to explain the three best birthdays she chose for you before the start of the series?”

She turned to Shiloh.

“Right,” said Shiloh, smiling a little. “Well, one year my Dad got an old friend of his from high school to take me Formula One race car driving out on a track. 

“Since Clark is only afraid of heights, this is actually perfectly reasonable. 

“But my other favorite birthdays aren’t as hair-raising. I got to take a cookery class on a local rural vineyard and Italian-style farm. Oh, and one year, this was really cool, my parents decorated the entire barn with fairy lights and we had an outdoors birthday party.” Shiloh grinned, eyes gleaming. “They made my favorite dinner and dessert, plus there was a treasure hunt around the farm.”

“This turned out to be enough,” Chloe continued in satisfaction, “for Shiloh to finally fully form her own voice in the author’s head. Everything had been covered - even Shiloh’s future connection to the Kawatche tribe! - except for one last detail.

“Clark is definitely a closet dark romantic.”

“And the author didn’t know quite how to work that while remaining true to Shiloh’s background and keeping the character her authentic self,” Lois explained in a positive voice. “But then -!”

She looked over at Shiloh excitedly.

“I told her what my favorite love songs were,” Shiloh said smugly. “One song is also one of the author’s favorite love songs, but the other is pretty obscure as far as love songs she’s heard over her lifetime:

“They are ‘On Your Side’ by The Veronicas and ‘I Just Wanna Be Mad’ by Terri Clark.

“I liked that they both showed a staunch, even stoical and level-headed kind of loyalty. The kind of loyalty that never wavered even when shit happened, or when I was upset.

“It felt true to Clark -“

“And it would also be a really important quality considering our chosen pairings,” said Chloe softly. “Yeah. They’re a little paranoid and kind of high maintenance.”

But Shiloh was smiling softly. “They have their charm,” she said quietly to the air.

Lois and Chloe shared a look - and smirked. 

“Oh, yeah,” said Lois wryly, “this is going to be interesting.

“Stay tuned,” she told the audience enthusiastically, “because the author is going to continue this project, but not even she knows where it’s going from here!”

“Should be fun,” said Chloe, smiling. “And now…” She looked over sideways, eager and excited, at Shiloh.

“You have me to talk here with you,” said Shiloh, smirking and raising her hands playfully. She had a very warm, calm, quiet and hard to read quality to her. “Exactly.”

“Some character writers actually consider this the most important section of character planning,” said Lois informatively. “The chapter when the character starts speaking in an original voice to the author is one of the most important points of all….”

“Hence the early release. She wanted to get me alive onto paper as soon as she could feel me,” said Shiloh. “That’s why this next part ends on the magic episode number 7.

“So stay tuned for… whatever’s coming next.” Shiloh smiled mysteriously, her face stoical but her blue eyes playful behind her rectangular black framed glasses.


End file.
